Fifth-generation iPad rumored to launch in March with iPad mini design cues

According to Japanese blog Macokatara, Apple is preparing to release a fifth-generation iPad in March. The new model will reportedly be thinner, lighter, and adopt design elements from the iPad mini which could include the diamond chamfered edges, anodized aluminum back, and possibly the speaker design.

According to my inside source, iPad(5th) may be released in March, 2013. Source told that, design of this new iPad will be like iPad mini in detail, and be thinner and lightweight. (The expectation comes to have a small 4mm in height, 17mm in width, depth 2mm).

9to5mac points out that these are not the new dimensions as that would make for a very small iPad, but that they are likely to be subtracted from the current iPad dimensions. This would result in an iPad that is slightly shorter and narrower, but with a thinness like that of the iPad mini.

Having released two generations of the 9.7-inch iPad this year alone, a fifth- generation model being released only 4 months after the fourth-generation would prove that Apple is attempting to move to a more aggressive release pattern.

In addition to releasing a new iPad, Macotakara is also reporting the Apple is gearing up to launch the second-generation iPad mini with a Retina display bearing the same resolution as the 9.7-inch Retina iPad.

Macotakara has a so-so track record, although their report sounds plausible based on other reports, mainly from Digitimes.